Spotting
 Timeline
 Travel Tip
 Trip
 Race
 Social
 Greeting
 Poll
 Img
 PNR
 Pic
 Blog
 News
 Conf TL
 RF Club
 Convention
 Monitor
 Topic
 #
 Rating
 Correct
 Wrong
 Stamp
 PNR Ref
 PNR Req
 Blank PNRs
 HJ
 Vote
 Pred
 @
 FM Alert
 FM Approval
 Pvt
Search Trains
 ↓ 
×
DOJ:
Dep:
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
Class:
2SSLCCEx3AFC2A1A3EEAVSEV
Type:
 

Train Details
Words:
LHB/ICF:
Pantry:
In-Coach Catering/Pantry Car
Loco:
Reversal:
Rake Reversal at Any Stn
Rake:
RSA:
With RSA
Inaug:
 to 
# Halts: to 
Trvl Time: to  (in hrs)
Distance: to  (in kms)
Speed: to  (in km/h)

Departure Details
Include nearby Stations:      ONLY this Station:
Dep Between:    
Dep PF#:
Reversal:
Rake Reversal at Dep Stn

Arrival Details
Include nearby Stations:      ONLY this Station:
Arr Days:
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
Arr Between:    
Arr PF#:
Reversal:
Rake Reversal at Arr Stn

Search
  Go  
dark mode
 
Fri Mar 29 17:40:51 IST
Home
Trains
ΣChains
Atlas
PNR
Forum
Quiz
Topics
Gallery
News
FAQ
Trips
Login
Post PNRPost BlogAdvanced Search
What are UP and DOWN trains? Can one identify Up and Down trains just by looking at the train numbers?  
9 Answers
Aug 01 2011 (20:23)
General

Entry# 410     
moderator^~
What are UP and DOWN trains? Can one identify Up and Down trains just by looking at the train numbers?

200305 views
1
Aug 05 2011 (14:35)
Blog Post# 215480-0     
SMJ   Added by: KishorWhoAJE2here~  Aug 05 2011 (14:45)
Q. Trains are often referred to as going "up" or "down" — what does this mean?
Down refers to a train travelling away from its headquarters (i.e., the homing railway) or from its Divisional headquarters, whichever is closer. Up refers to a train travelling towards its headquarters or divisional HQ, whichever is closer. Eg, 2903 DN Frontier mail is down travelling away from its HQ (Bombay) and from the division that homes it (Bombay division) and similarly 2904 UP refers to it travelling back towards Bombay, its HQ and division. Usually the numbers for the "up" and "down" trains differ by just 1.
As
...
more...
for the Shatabdis, the odd number indicates the Down run and the even number for the Up run. E.g. New Delhi - Bhopal Shatabdi (the first Shatabdi) is numbered 2001 DN (away form Delhi) and 2002 UP (towards Delhi).
There are numerous exceptions to this scheme! Beware if you are trying to find method in the madness. Numerous inconsistencies and oddities arise near zonal or divisional boundaries. At Howrah, the Kalka Mail was numbered 1 Up / 2 Down and the Howrah - Bombay Mail as 2 Up / 1 Down to avoid confusion.
Interestingly, on the Ring Railway in New Delhi, the clockwise direction is marked "up" in the timetables.
History
In the UK, the convention was that all trains going to London were "up", and all those going away from it were "down". In India, the GIPR adopted this convention with respect to Bombay, and the Madras Railway adopted it for Madras. Interestingly, the East Indian Railway decided to name trains towards its base, Calcutta, "down" trains, perhaps expecting the GIPR to eventually reach Calcutta; this convention was also adopted by the Bengal-Nagpur Railway. On the North Western Railway "up" was to the west, so that trains from Delhi to Amritsar are "up". However, to avoid confusion among trains numbered the same and belonging to different companies or zones, some changes were made.

201767 views
0
Apr 25 2011 (16:03)
Blog Post# 146258-2     
PKV~   Added by: moderator^~  Aug 01 2011 (20:23)
Am furnishing below an account of the differentiation between UP and DOWN trains Courtesy:IRFCA. But as the write-up clearly mentions, the exceptions are numerous and therefore it would be madness to find a "method in this madness"
Usually, of the 2 numbers allocated to a pair of trains, the UP train bears the odd number and the Down train the even number. But even there there are exceptions like 12810 UP Howrah Mumbai Mail (via Nagpur) and 12809 DN Mumbai Howrah Mail (via Nagpur).
Up and Down Trains
Q.
...
more...
Trains are often referred to as going "up" or "down" —what does this mean?
Down refers to a train travelling away from its headquarters (i.e., the homing railway) or from its Divisional headquarters, whichever is closer. Up refers to a train travelling towards its headquarters or divisional HQ, whichever is closer. Eg, 2903 DN Frontier mail is down travelling away from its HQ (Bombay) and from the division that homes it (Bombay division) and similarly 2904 UP refers to it travelling back towards Bombay, its HQ and division. Usually the numbers for the "up" and "down" trains differ by just 1.
As for the Shatabdis, the odd number indicates the Down run and the even number for the Up run. E.g. New Delhi - Bhopal Shatabdi (the first Shatabdi) is numbered 2001 DN (away form Delhi) and 2002 UP (towards Delhi).
There are numerous exceptions to this scheme! Beware if you are trying to find method in the madness. Numerous inconsistencies and oddities arise near zonal or divisional boundaries. At Howrah, the Kalka Mail was numbered 1 Up / 2 Down and the Howrah - Bombay Mail as 2 Up / 1 Down to avoid confusion.
Interestingly, on the Ring Railway in New Delhi, the clockwise direction is marked "up" in the timetables.
DONT GO TOO DEEP INTO THE MATTER.

201569 views
0
Apr 25 2011 (16:06)
Blog Post# 146258-3     
PKV~   Added by: moderator^~  Aug 01 2011 (20:23)
Incidentally 12137 UP is Mumbai Firozpur Punjab Mail and 12138 DN is Firozpur Mumbai Punjab Mail.

200805 views
0
Apr 11 2011 (18:22)
Blog Post# 136920-2     
Siddharth S^~   Added by: moderator^~  Aug 01 2011 (20:23)
@Manish*: Re# 136920-0
If it is train between different zones it is easy to identify with the train number which indicates the zone to which the train belongs. Train leaving zone is up and train returning is down.
Actually though up is meant going from primary maintainence and down is for getting bank and up train must have the preceeding number(i.e up train 1 and down train 2) but majority cases it isnt the case.

199662 views
0
Apr 12 2011 (18:25)
Blog Post# 136920-4     
Alok   Added by: moderator^~  Aug 01 2011 (20:23)
@Manish*: Re# 136920-0
Any train going away from it's base zone/station is called as UP; and any train coming back to it's base/home zone is called as down.
#
UP trains usually have odd last digit in train number; while the DOWN trains have even.
#
...
more...

E.g., 12009/12010 is homed at BCT (however station in same zone) hence, going away to ADI it is called 12009, while returning it is 12010.

199710 views
0
Apr 12 2011 (18:29)
Blog Post# 136920-5     
Siddharth S^~   Added by: moderator^~  Aug 01 2011 (20:24)
@Sanket*: Re# 136920-4
Though thats the rule i doesnt seem to apply in many cases
Eg:
16221/22 has its maintainence in mysore and train to chennai is 6221 and return 6222-works out here
16231/32 has
...
more...
maintainence at Mysore but train leaving mysore is 6232 and return is 6231
Similar case with 6525/26(SBC maintainence), 2657/58(SBC maintainence), 2607/08 and 09/10(SBC maintainence)

200375 views
0
Apr 12 2011 (19:28)
Blog Post# 136920-13     
Akul Modi   Added by: moderator^~  Aug 01 2011 (20:24)
@Siddharth*: Re# 136920-12
Down refers to a train travelling away from its headquarters (i.e., the homing railway) or from its Divisional headquarters, whichever is closer. Up refers to a train travelling towards its headquarters or divisional HQ, whichever is closer. Eg, 2903 DN Frontier mail is down travelling away from its HQ (Bombay) and from the division that homes it (Bombay division) and similarly 2904 UP refers to it travelling back towards Bombay, its HQ and division. Usually the numbers for the "up" and "down" trains differ by just 1.
As for the
...
more...
Shatabdis, the odd number indicates the Down run and the even number for the Up run. E.g. New Delhi - Bhopal Shatabdi (the first Shatabdi) is numbered 2001 DN (away form Delhi) and 2002 UP (towards Delhi).
There are numerous exceptions to this scheme! Beware if you are trying to find method in the madness. Numerous inconsistencies and oddities arise near zonal or divisional boundaries. At Howrah, the Kalka Mail was numbered 1 Up / 2 Down and the Howrah - Bombay Mail as 2 Up / 1 Down to avoid confusion.
Interestingly, on the Ring Railway in New Delhi, the clockwise direction is marked "up" in the timetables.

199000 views
0
Apr 13 2011 (16:36)
Blog Post# 136920-21     
KALINGAS~   Added by: moderator^~  Aug 01 2011 (20:25)
andheri station
left side train is moving down and right side train is moving up..
:)

199774 views
0
Apr 14 2011 (07:25)
Blog Post# 136920-34     
Pp   Added by: moderator^~  Aug 01 2011 (20:26)
@Manish*: Re# 136920-0
in general terms:
East to west is UP
NE to North/South is UP
South to West/North is UP
First
...
more...
number is UP
Second number is also UP when the designation/originating point falls in UP side.
Some time a DN train becomes UP at destination due to geographical position of destination.
So On ....
Scroll to Top
Scroll to Bottom
Go to Mobile site
Important Note: This website NEVER solicits for Money or Donations. Please beware of anyone requesting/demanding money on behalf of IRI. Thanks.
Disclaimer: This website has NO affiliation with the Government-run site of Indian Railways. This site does NOT claim 100% accuracy of fast-changing Rail Information. YOU are responsible for independently confirming the validity of information through other sources.
India Rail Info Privacy Policy